Biological specimens or samples are routinely required by predicting or diagnosing a disease or condition in a subject in need thereof. The samples may be collected in a medical facility (e.g., hospital or clinic) or in any number of environments, for example, in the subject's home, work and community. Samples, such as buccal, nasopharyngeal, wounds, blood spatter or drops, etc., can be collected with absorbent material (e.g., swab) and the use of swabs allows for non-invasive sample collection.
The current devices and methods for obtaining, storing, and transporting a sample typically allow only a single swab (or at most, two swabs) to be used per subject. The swab may be transported in a specialized transport medium or in a mail envelope, but such transport may compromise the integrity of the sample. Each swab has a limited surface area for sample collection, and thus, providing one or two swabs (at most) often results in insufficient material for diagnostic testing. Additionally, inefficient isolation of the sample from the swab results in low sample output for diagnostic testing. Many times, the subject is required to re-submit one or more additional samples, thereby reducing compliance by the subject.
Accordingly, a need exists for improved devices and methods for sample collection to facilitate prediction and/or diagnosis of a disease or condition in the subject in need thereof.